Emails confirm Mayor Cooper’s administration kept public out of State of Metro in violation of city charter

In April, Nashville Mayor John Cooper provided the yearly ‘State of Metro’ address to the citizens of Nashville, which is required by the city charter to be open to the public. While the administration claims no one was turned away or denied an invitation, a newly fulfilled open records request details people who were told they could not attend, citizens who were turned away at the door because they were not on the invitation list, and a directed change of the announcement text making it ‘invite only’ and specifically not open to the public. The Mayor’s Chief Communications Officer TJ Ducklo claims none of this ever happened, despite the newly released administration emails detailing the denials.